1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to coin-operated sYstems and, more particularly to coin escrow devices for use in coin-operated sYstems such as vending machines, coin-operated telephones and the like.
2. State of the Art
Coin-operated vending systems such as coin-operated telephones often include devices, usually called "escrow" devices, to temporarily hold coins until such time as control signals indicate whether the coins should be returned to the system user or permanently collected. Typical escrow devices in coin-operated telephones, for example, include a mechanism to release coins to a coin box in the event that a call has been successfully placed and a mechanism to return coins to the calling party in the event that a call is not successfully connected to a called telephone station.
In practice, escrow devices for coin-operated vending systems must meet several requirements. Normally, the primary requirement is reliability: an escrow device must operate to discharge all escrowed coins to a collection box only when a vending operation has been successfully completed and, conversely, must return all escrowed coins to the system user only when a vending operation has not been satisfactorily completed. If an escrow device does not operate reliably, the vending system may be damaged by an irate user and revenue will be lost to the owner of the system. Also, in use with coin-operated telephones, coin escrow devices should operatewith the lowest possible energy consumption
Still further in practice, coin escrow devices must be able to hold a large number of coins without causing erroneous discharge of the coins. For example, in the case of a typical coin-operated telephone, a coin escrow device should have sufficient capacity to hold a minimum of about twelve coins, and some escrow devices in coin-operated telephones hold about forty to sixty coins. (If all sixty coins were quarters, the escrowed value would be fifteen dollars).
Still further in practice, coin-operated systems must be resistant to jamming, whether the jamming action is intentionally or unintentionally caused. If a coin-operated system does not include features to preclude jamming by misoriented coins, for example, the system is likely in incur substantial down-time and require above average maintenance. Such conditions are costly for the owner of the system and cause dissatisfaction by users.